CANNONS Creek designer Chris Apisai is turning a grocery shop wall into a work of art full of local meaning.

“When I started drawing the duck pond, everyone noticed it straight away because it’s such a special place in Cannons Creek,” says Chris, 26, a Whitireia Community Polytechnic design and visual arts graduate.

Using acrylic paint, spray paint and ink pen, Chris began three weeks ago creating images for the Bedford St Four Square store wall across from the Cannons Creek basketball courts.

Flowers, religious symbols, Pacific flags, the pond and the “old road” – now a walkway between Ascot Park and Porirua city centre – are featured in his mural.

Chris says the old road is significant to him because it links up all of Porirua East.

Porirua City Council graffiti management coordinator Trevor Mason and councillor Tim Manu asked Chris to portray family values, community spirit, cultural values and spiritual significance in the mural.

“I had to come up with a concept, which I showed to the dairy owners and they were all on, full on, from then on,” says Chris.

“My theme is Porirua based, it’s about our area. I thought to myself, ‘what’s going to represent our people?’ and that’s why I added different religious symbols.”

Chris says when he was approached with the idea, his response was, “Bro, I’ll be down hard out.

“I was ‘stoked as’ to get the opportunity to work on the mural especially for the community and myself,” says Chris, who also works part-time in Whitireia’s secondary schools liaison team.

Chris, who has included motivational quotes to his mural, says: “I want our youth to get inspired by this mural, to look at life in a positive way. It’s to motivate the community as well.”

He admits his setbacks have included lack of rest and unhealthy eating working so close to takeaway stores, but says it will be worth it in the end.

Then there was the problem of tagging. Local resident Poppy Daymond helped clean off the tags so Chris drew a poppy flower on the mural and dedicated it to her.

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